Bank names and shames 'loan defaulter' Vinod Kambli

Dombivli Nagari Sahakari Bank issued this advertisement in a Marathi daily on Saturday, labelling former cricketer Vinod Kambli and his wife Andrea defaulters on housing and vehicle loans

Childhood friends Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli seem to be a study in contrasts. While the former enjoys the status of a god and can do no wrong in the eyes of his legion of fans, the latter seems to be controversy’s poster child.

Kambli, who has had several non-cognisable complaints registered against him in the past, is in the news again after a Dombivli bank issued an advertisement in a leading Marathi daily on Saturday, labelling him and his wife defaulters. “Kambli had taken housing and vehicle loans from the bank, which were given to him after following all the rules.

The advertisement labels Kambli and his wife Andrea defaulters and alleges that they have not paid the dues to the bank, despite repeated requests. File pic

He paid a few installments initially and then stopped. One of our employees, Deepa Upadhyay, had gone to his house in September 2010 to request him to pay the money, but his wife had slapped Upadhyay and filed a non-cognisable complaint against her,” said a senior official from Dombivli Nagari Sahakari (DNS) Bank, which has around 40 branches in the city.

The advertisement labels Kambli and his second wife and former model Andrea Vinod Kambli defaulters and alleges that they have not paid the dues to the banks despite repeated requests.

Jewel Co Op Housing society in Bandra, where Kambli lives with his wife Andrea. He has allegedly defaulted on maintenance dues to the society in the past. Pic/Kaushik Thanekar

It says that the bank had followed all legal ways to recover the money from Kambli, but he did not respond. It goes on to ask readers to inform the bank if they have any details regarding the properties owned by Kambli.

'Protocol followed'Uday Karve, chairperson, DNS bank, said, “We have followed all the legal procedures. He (Kambli) was also warned that his photograph would be published if he did not make the payment. Since he had not responded, we published his photograph as part of the advertisement.”

When mid-day tried calling up Kambli, he hung up as soon as he realised he was talking to a reporter. He remained unavailable for comment thereafter and did not respond to text messages either. Bank sources said that after the advertisement was published, Kambli had called them and asked them to collect a cheque for part of the amount by Monday.

They said, however, that they would believe him only when they saw the cheque and would take legal measures if he failed to stick to his promise. The two guarantors of Kambli’s loans a physiotherapist and an MLA could also land in trouble.

Poster childAfter his retirement in 2011, Kambli tried everything from politics and movies to cricket commentary and reality shows, without much success.

mid-day’s September 8, 2010, report on the ‘catfight’ between the bank employee and Kambli’s wife Andrea

He was in the news earlier for defaulting on society maintenance at his house in Jewels Co-operative Society, Bandra, and mid-day had carried a report on his wife’s spat with the bank officer on September 8, 2010 ('Vinod Kambli’s wife in catfight with banker').

Officers from Bandra police station said there are several non-cognisable complaints against him a result of various issues and fights that he has had with people.